In 1892, Winchester approached John Moses Browning, the famous firearms inventor, to design a new rifle to replace the outdated Model 1873 rifle and to compete with a recent offering from Marlin Firearms. Browning responded that he would present them with a rifle within a month or it would be free. In two weeks, Browning presented Winchester with a prototype of what would become the famous Model 1892 lever action rifle. It was essentially a scaled down version of Browning’s earlier Model 1886 rifle in .45-70 Gov’t. The 1892 was to be chambered in the same cartridges as the older 1873, the .25-20, .32-20, the .38-40, and the .44-40. Compared to the 1873, the 1892 was smaller, lighter, and stronger than its predecessor, mainly due to its much better frame design rather than any metallurgical improvements made in the 19 years since the 1873 was introduced. The 1892 was a best-seller from the get-go and remained in production until the beginning of WW2. As a result, in the 1950s and 60s the 1892 was often used in western films as a stand in for the original 1873 as those rifles had become relatively expensive collector’s pieces by then. In fact, the 1892 is a frequent co-star in many of the western films starring John Wayne, the rifle being his characters’ personal choice of long rifle to carry on their adventures. The rifle shown is in the Sporting rifle configuration with a 24” octagonal barrel and a full-length magazine. It was made in 1911. It is in good shape for being 109 years old. As is typical for these rifles, the receiver has no finish left, but the barrel retains 90 percent of it. The magazine tube has some finish wear as well. The sights are in good shape though the notch in the rear is a bit narrow even for those with good eyesight. The screws are in good shape – none have been buggered. The rifle is in great mechanical shape. The bore has light pitting in some spots, but the rifling is still defined. It would be a very accurate rifle. The wood furniture exhibits the usual wear for an old rifle with light dings or gouges. There are no cracks. This rifle would make a nice addition to any Winchester or Old West collection.